Missing in Action- South Coast Register Style

My quick comment before reading- I made sure that during the election campaign I attended to all Council matters. The meetings I seem to have missed are committee that I am either not a member of or just can't change my timetable to fit!

MISSING IN ACTION


BY JEFF STEPHENSON South Coast Register
15 Jun, 2011 08:21 AM

Minister’s claim you can’t be a councillor and an MP is borne out by the roll call

THE difficulty in combining state and local politics has been demonstrated by figures showing attendance records at Shoalhaven City Council meetings and council briefing sessions.

Both Mayor Paul Green and Cr Gareth Ward are under pressure to terminate their local government roles after the Local Government Minister Don Page voiced growing concerns about MPs continuing to hold roles on council.

Cr Ward’s attendance at council meetings has dropped dramatically since he won the seat of Kiama in March this year.

Figures released recently show Cr Ward has attended only 17 council meetings this year out of a possible 45 until the end of May.

This compares to Cr John Fergusson, who has attended 44 meetings and Cr Greg Watson with a record of 42 and Cr Amanda Findlay with an attendance record of 36 meetings from the 45.

Cr Ward’s attendance at briefing meetings is worse.

He attended only one briefing meeting this year until the end of May.

Cr Amanda Findley tops the count with a 100 per cent record of 12 out of 12.

Cr Green has managed much better than Cr Ward.

The mayor has attended seven of 12 briefing sessions this year and 24 of 45 council meetings.

Cr Ward had attended 90 briefing sessions from October, 2008 until May 2011, while Cr Green’s record for the same period is 149 from 180 meetings.

Cr Green insists he can manage the two roles.
He was elected as Shoalhaven Mayor in 2008 and a Member of the Legislative Council as a Christian Democrat in March.He has conceded the two roles “can be a strain” but he believed the advantage the city gained outweighed the disadvantage of him being out of the city on occasions. He said his time was “worth millions to the city if we get it right” and said the cost to the city could be as much as $250,000 should he relinquish the role which would be brought on by another election.

Mr Page sent shockwaves through the state government when he targeted people trying to fill the dual roles.